A Christmas Eve head-on crash on the Newport Pell Bridge could be the reason for a surge in signatures on a petition calling for a median barrier on the span. The number of signatures on the online petition started in October by the group Citizens United for Bridge Safety has nearly doubled in the past week to almost 600. Both drivers in the Christmas Eve crash were hospitalized. Among the petition's signers is a Newport resident whose godmother was killed in a head-on collision on the bridge in 2010.